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Oakland City Council appoints Kevin Jenkins to interim mayor, as Rep. Barbara Lee files initial documents for mayoral race
Oakland City Council voted unanimously to appoint Kevin Jenkins to be President and interim mayor, the city's third mayor in two months, after the recall of Sheng Thao. Three new council members were sworn in, along with Rebecca Kaplan who will fill the District 2 seat vacated by Nikki Fortunato Bas.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland City Council member Kevin Jenkins will serve as the city's next mayor until a special election in April after city leaders on Monday unanimously appointed him as city council president.
Nikki Fortunato Bas, now an Alameda County supervisor, succeeded Sheng Thao after she was recalled in November. Bas has now taken on a new county role, and the city council on Monday elected a new council president, Jenkins, thus making the District 6 councilman the newest interim mayor.
"I believe that he is someone who listens to everyone who has the ability to just focus on what's the solution, the outcome we're trying to achieve and bring folks together. That will be really important these next four months until the election," Fortunato Bas said.
Also by unanimous vote, council member Noel Gallo was appointed President pro-tem.
The council has three new members.
"I'm able to sit next to Noel Gallo, legendary," said Ken Houston, who was sworn in as Oakland City Council member for District 7.
"I'm really grateful and looking forward to working alongside our amazing city council colleagues," said Rowena Brown, elected as an at-large Oakland City Council ember.
"I reject factionalism, score-settling, personal aggrandizement, if we don't work as a team, we're going to fail," said Zac Unger, who will be the Oakland City Council member for District 1.
Former council member Rebecca Kaplan was appointed to temporarily fill Fortunato Bas's vacant District 2 seat.
Jenkins' District 6 seat, covering the coliseum, Eastmont and part of the Skyline area, will remain vacant while he fills in as interim mayor. Staff will remain in place, however, to continue handling constituent services.
The backstory:
Jenkins was born and raised in East Oakland. He is the son of two Oakland Unified School District employees, a graduate of Oakland High School and was first elected to the council in 2022. He earned a bachelor's degree in urban studies and planning from San Francisco State University and a master's degree in public administration from Cal State East Bay.
While on the council, Jenkins was a proponent of using high-tech cameras, including automated license plate readers, to help arrest suspects. And most recently, he attended a news conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who advocated for Oakland to loosen its police pursuit policy in order to chase a wider variety of people avoiding law enforcement.
RELATED: Barbara Lee opens campaign account to run for Oakland's mayor
Jenkins will serve as interim mayor until a special election on April 15.
Eleven candidates as of Monday have filed campaign account paperwork to run for Oakland mayor in April, including former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Johnny Gatlin, Wendy Adams, Tyron Jordan, Peter Liu, Mindy Pechenuk, Fabian Robinson, Derrick Soo, Elizabeth Swaney, Loren Taylor, and Renia Webb and Larry Lionel Young Jr.
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Sheng Thao on final day as Oakland mayor
As Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao prepared to leave office Tuesday, she spoke with KTVU's Jana Katsuyama about her proudest moments in office and said she has no regrets about her actions while in office, despite being recalled in the November election.